


Delphinium

by All_My_Characters_Are_Dead



Series: Birthday AUs [7]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Magic AU, birthday au, look i can write ushijima, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 10:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7754344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_My_Characters_Are_Dead/pseuds/All_My_Characters_Are_Dead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ushijima wasn't always able to control the power humming in his veins, so he kept his emotions suppressed whenever possible in an attempt to restrain his magic. It's Sugawara who teaches Ushijima that it's okay to feel, that true control is possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delphinium

**Author's Note:**

  * For [A_Sirens_Lullaby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Sirens_Lullaby/gifts).



> Guess what guys I'm alive!!   
> I know I've hardly posted anything all summer but the new semester is starting, so I'm going to try to get things off hiatus and back on track. This month might be a little thin on updates, though, because I have a multichapter thing I'm working on that's taking up a lot of time. So here, have this happy Ushijima as an apology for not posting more.

_ “There’s power in feelings, Wakatoshi. You must never let yours get out of hand.” _

_ “I won’t, father.” _

 

Ushijima had kept his promise, kept his emotions under control, never letting them show. 

 

_ “You seem more confused than angry or upset,” Sugawara observed, having run into Ushijima after the match, after Karasuno beat Shiratorizawa. Ushijima almost explained that he didn’t get angry, he didn’t get upset, because that would be dangerous. But what would Sugawara know about power? “You know, suppressing things will only make it worse when you do finally lose control.” Ushijima tensed, the slightest spark of apprehension - not fear, never fear - making his fingers twitch. Energy coursed through his veins, hot and dangerous. _

_ Sugawara’s hand came up to rest on Ushijima’s cheek, and Ushijima’s entire world stilled. Sugawara smiled, a gentle, calming tilt of his lips that ensnared Ushijima’s attention.  _

_ “I was right. You do have power. You need to let yourself feel, or you’ll never know what you’re capable of until it’s too late to control it,” Sugawara told him softly.  _

_ “If I let myself feel,” Ushijima began, his words slow as he tried to think of how to explain it, “I won’t know what to do with all of this power.” _

_ “That’s okay,” Sugawara replied. “I’ll show you.” _

 

Ushijima had sworn never to let his emotions grow, never to let his powers emerge. But Sugawara made it so easy, so dangerously easy to feel, with his gentle smiles that - as Ushijima quickly learned - hid a quick, fierce intelligence, with his quiet touches that set him at ease even as they roused emotions he hadn’t let himself feel for as long as he could remember. 

 

_ “Sugawara, why are you so fixated on making me feel, making me use my powers? How do you even know how to help me control them?” _

_ “You could call me Suga, you know,” the setter replied, not looking up from his stretches, having just finished an early morning jog with Ushijima. “Or...you could call me Koushi.” Ushijima nodded, although he wasn’t sure he was really going to call Sugawara anything more familiar.  _

_ “You didn’t answer the question,” he pointed out. Sugawara blinked, then laughed, a light, incredulous sound that made the energy in Ushijima’s veins soar, warm and strong instead of painfully sharp.  _

_ “You haven’t figured it out by now? Well, I guess you are pretty straightforward, so it makes sense that you have to be told things outright,” Sugawara mused, his warm brown eyes dancing. Ushijima’s heart fluttered. There was a level of affection and amusement in Sugawara’s eyes that made the power in his veins positively  _ sing.  _ Sugawara stepped closer to Ushijima, held his hand palm-up between them. Ushijima frowned down at the setter’s hand for a second. Was Sugawara holding...a seed? Then Ushijima’s eyes widened slightly, his mouth opening a bit in surprise.  _

_ The seed in Sugawara’s palm was growing, sprouting a stem and then leaves and then stretching taller and finally sprouting a cluster of blue-purple flowers at the top. “I learned how to use my feelings, my powers, and how to let myself enjoy life without letting fear of what I might do control me,” Sugawara explained. “I feel weightless now, compared to how I felt when I was trying to keep my powers locked away. I want you to feel the same freedom I do.” _

 

That freedom had been slow to realize, with how deeply ingrained Ushijima’s habit of suppressing his emotions was. But under Suga’s instruction, under his touch, Ushijima’s power hummed instead of screeched, warmed his veins instead of burning them. 

 

_ “Wakatoshi, you need to relax,” Sugawara hummed. Ushijima wasn’t sure when exactly Sugawara had actually started calling him Wakatoshi instead of just suggesting it, and he wasn’t sure when he’s started calling Sugawara Koushi in return. Sugawara’s hands on his chest, palms pressed gently right below Ushijima’s collarbones, ignited the magic in his veins, but the heat was warm and soft, not harsh and painful like it was before Sugawara.  _

_ “I’m not sure how,” Ushijima admitted. Sugawara laughed softly, the sound making Ushijima’s lips quirk upward fondly.  _

_ “You know how. You relax all the time,” Sugawara reminded him. Ushijima shook his head.  _

_ “Only when you’re around,” Ushijima admitted. “I’m still not sure how you manage it…” Sugawara smiled gently, tilted his head, lips parting slightly in invitation. Ushijima leaned down, covered Sugawara’s mouth with his own. Warmth bloomed between them, as soft and bright as the petals of the flowers Sugawara grew with his power. Ushijima’s body relaxed, his muscles responding to the reassuring pressure of Sugawara’s lips on Ushijima’s as his powers settled, like Sugawara’s mouth against his made the whole world fall away, including the energy in his veins. When Sugawara pulled back, the warmth, the peace lingered. “Is it your magic that does this to me?” Ushijima asked, staring down into Sugawara’s tender gaze.  _

_ “No, Wakatoshi. My power can affect your body - healing you, making you sleep - but it doesn’t affect your mind or your magic. If me being close makes you feel something, that has nothing to do with my power,” Sugawara told him. Ushijima studied him, only realizing his hands had found Sugawara’s waist when Sugawara shifted closer. “As for how I can calm you down… I just had to pay attention to what makes you feel peaceful and what sets you on edge.” _

 

Ushijima was pulled from his thoughts by a soft noise, a barely audible whine as Sugawara stirred beside him. 

“Don’t sit up,” Sugawara mumbled, one hand reaching up and grasping Ushijima’s arm, tugging him back down beside the sleepy setter. Ushijima wasn’t sure when he had sat up, but the cold air had apparently disturbed Sugawara’s sleep, so he allowed himself to be maneuvered back into place. “No thinking.” Ushijima’s lips quirked upwards into a smile, and he slid an arm around Sugawara’s waist, situating him more comfortably against Ushijima’s side. “I mean it.” Sugawara sounded more serious, more awake now. “Go back to sleep. We have to be up early, remember?”

“I remember,” Ushijima answered, his voice a low rumble that made Sugawara hum and lay his head on Ushijima’s chest so he could appreciate the sound better. Ushijima brought his free hand up and brushed a few strands of silvery hair away from Sugawara’s face, his fingertips lingering on the setter’s cheek. Sugawara tilted his head, kissed Ushijima’s fingers, then settled back against his chest. The sensation of Sugawara’s lips on his hand lingered, not in the enticing, exciting way that it usually did, but in a soft, heavy way that spread through his body and calmed his mind. “You shouldn’t use your powers for this,” Ushijima muttered, his eyelids fluttering shut. 

“You shouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night to relive the past and leave me with cold air where I’m supposed to have a nice warm boyfriend,” Sugawara replied, closing his own eyes, a fond smile curving his lips upward as he let himself drift off again. 

**Author's Note:**

> quick note: the title is the name of the flower Suga grows for Ushijima. It's supposed to stand for "levity, fun, big-hearted, ardent attachment, joy" according to my in-depth googling of flower meanings.


End file.
